Community and Heritage
I enjoy working on community-based and educational projects that combine my love of illustration and love of history. With a background in Classical Civilisation, I work well alongside researchers, and feel comfortable carrying out my own research for educational and exhibition projects. I also love working with community groups to lead discussions and bring out individual stories to translate into artistic outputs for the wider community.
Recently, I worked with the University of Bristol on a research exhibition focusing on Mariner sailors from British colonies in 1800-1914. This project was particularly exciting to me as both sides of my family worked on the docks or as sailors during this time period.
​
For this, I researched archived photographs and newspapers from across 4 UK ports and compiled these together in a series of illustrations, weaving together both illustrations and collaged archive material. At a time of discrimination and the British Empire, lascars were invited to be part of the crew’s group photos. Their inclusion in these images, stood side by side with British men, suggests that they were an invaluable part of the crew, but the incorporated newspaper elements to my illustrations report on the dire conditions lascars were often left in, and the occasional humanity spared to them.
This artwork was digital artwork was then printed on large scale to high resolution. My artistic response was extremely well received by the researchers and is currently touring the UK ports featured in the research body.
Mariners: Religion, Race and Empire in British Ports, 1801-1914
60 Miles: Community comics
I was commissioned by 60 Miles Northampton heritage group to illustrate a 10-page comic book portraying the stories of black individuals growing up in British Colonised African countries, the deceptive nature of the Commonwealth and their experiences of moving to the UK.
As part of this, I worked with a community group and heritage facilitator over three sessions to extract personal stories and drive discussions on their individual connections to the area.
I truly enjoyed working with the community groups to unpack their authentic stories and translate this into a printed comic book anthology for the wider public. The community group were extremely proud of the work produced and felt it empathetically and accurately represented their stories.
Photographs from workshops and opening evening